Polaric ion energy was a highly-volatile form of energy based on polaric ionparticles. Although polaric ions were capable of generating power on a large scale, polaric ion devices were prone to subspace chain reactions. Such a reaction had the potential of devastating an entire planet, vaporizing all life within a matter of seconds. Polaric ion explosions left behind high levels of polaric radiation, as well as subspace fractures persisting for hours after the event.

In an alternate timeline, the entire civilization of this planet had been annihilated in a polaric catastrophe, but it was found that the shock waves from the explosion had propagated into the past through a subspace fracture. Two members of a Voyageraway team, Kathryn Janeway and Tom Paris, moved through one of the fractures and were transported one day into the past, where they discovered that they were the cause of the catastrophe. When they prevented the accident, the timeline in which the explosion occurred was eliminated. (VOY: "Time and Again")